For identification of biological and chemical sample compositions, various quenched or unquenched dyes can be added to a sample. An unquenched dye fluoresces at a particular emission wavelength when exposed to excitation light. Quenching dyes can greatly reduces the amount of light emitted by that dye at particular wavelengths.
The apparatus and methods currently in use for sample component detection are expensive, and can require a broad spectrum of light, multiple light sources, and/or multiple detectors, for recordation and interpretation of particular emitted wavelengths from a given sample. For example, in the past, the presence of the components in a sample has been determined by detecting and differentiating specific emission wavelengths emitted from a sample, requiring relatively expensive detectors for detecting and differentiating emission wavelengths. It is desirable to create a less expensive apparatus and method of determining the composition of a sample using fluorescent dyes.